Page 41 of His Wilde Little
I wasn’t opposed to that, but I wanted to be seen around town with him, holding his hands, laying claim to him, all the things I wanted to do with someone I was potentially on theverge of callingboyfriend. It wasn’t such a huge leap considering he was alreadyDaddyto me.
With Lorenzo out shopping, I was preoccupied by the bakery that had opened in my dream location. I suppose it had only been a dream while it was on the market, and even then, not a dream I could easily see coming true since the ranch work never let up.
Hearthstone, the name of the bakery. The door had been painted a pastel blue and the window display with covered in pride pastel colors coming out of frosting bags and spread from palette knives. It was busy inside, and sitting on a stool at the counter, a familiar face.
“Leo,” I said, walking inside.
Leo let out a little squeal. “Oh my god, Jace, where the heck have you been?” he jumped off the stool and ambushed me with a hug. “I feel like it’s been forever since you’ve been in town. What’s happening up at the ranch?”
I glanced at the rugged man behind the counter who stood by with a big beaming smile. He wasn’t familiar, I stared at him for a moment before looking back at Leo. “Yeah, my mom’s been doing the transport trips, and I’ve been focusing on the horses, the rescues we got in. I can’t believe I missed this place opening.”
“And you haven’t met Henry yet,” Leo said. “Henry is—” he paused, blushing pink almost like someone had squeezed all the red in his cheeks with two big pinches. “We’re seeing each other.”
Henry nodded. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a nod. “I’ve been open around a month now, and this town has given me everything I could’ve ever asked for.”
“Well, not everything,” Leo said, pulling me slightly toward the stools.
“What could be missing?” I asked.
Henry shrugged. “I’m guessing he’s referring to the idea he had about putting a ball pit in the back.”
“I told you, it would be a sensory chamber,” he said. “And I think it would be so much fun.”
“You know that spare room upstairs can be turned into whatever you want,” Henry answered.
“You’re already living together?”
“No,” they both answered at the same time.
“I was giving him good business ideas,” Leo said. “And I do spend a lot of time here, but I live at my folks summer house.”
It was a big house, if my memory served me right, it was two stories, large rooms, and a large dining room that had no dining table to speak of. That made for one great play date sleepover. It had been forever since I’d had one of those with friends, everything seemed like it had happened in other lifetimes.
“You know, Jace bakes as well,” Leo said to Henry. “I think he actually wanted this place.”
“Oh, no, I could never,” I lied. “I’m far too important at the ranch to ever leave.” And that was the truth. “I’m guessing you’re going to be my competition for some of the town events. Best bring you A game. I know what this town likes.”
“You know Henry comes from one of those high stress corporate jobs, I think he’ll be just find going up against you, Jace,” Leo let out with a giggle. “And he’ll have me by his side as his assistant baker.” He gave a small salute.
“I welcome the competition,” Henry chuckled. “Can I interest you in some of the seasonal fruit pies?”
“What do you have?”
“Apple pie, pear pie, a cranberry pie which is almost all gone, and pumpkin,” he said, gesturing along the glass display counter. “If any of those are to your taste, if not, I’ve got a whole bunch of cupcakes.”
Leo smacked his lips right by my ear almost. “You can’t go wrong with anything you pick.”
Since I hadn’t been around in town, my entire year calendar seemed out of whack, it wasn’t until pumpkin pie and cranberries were mentioned that I realized Thanksgiving was coming up. “Apple,” I said.
He nodded. “With a scoop of fresh vanilla ice cream?” he asked. “I make it myself, well, with a machine, but it’s all about what you know, and I know good ice cream.” He gave the apron over his belly a pat. “What do you think?”
My stomach grumbled and answered for me. I had time to kill, and what better way to do that than by reconnected with Leo, and assessing the competition’s apple pie. I still had to work on my specialty pie for Saddle Up, but it had to be fresh. I wasn’t going to serve some stale on the road pie. I wanted my ribbon this year.
At a free table, I sat with Leo. He kicked my leg. “Spill then,” he said. “Last I even heard, hot Texan was at your home, and then you drop off the face of the earth. So, what happened?”
It was impossible not to come apart at the seams, giggling, I spilled just a little. “We kissed. And it was heaven.”
18. LORENZO
